By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV
DAVAO CITY – A Philippine Eagle with a bullet wound on its left wing died hours after it was found by soldiers in Barangay Mangayon, Compostela, Davao de Oro on Monday, July 8.
PHILIPPINE Eagle ‘Mangayon’ under treatment at the Philippine Eagle Foundation in Davao City. (PEF)
The Philippine Eagle Foundation said soldiers immediately transported the weak eagle named “Mangayon” after the area where it was found to the nearest patrol base with the help of Indigenous Peoples before the raptor was transferred to the Compostela Municipal Hall.
A rescue team from PEF led by senior animal keeper Dominic Tadena and senior biologist Rowell Taraya retrieved the national bird after they were alerted by the Department of Environment Natural Resources-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR-PENRO).
The PEF said they found the eagle – tied with a nylon string and covered with a red shirt while being cradled by a soldier – lethargic and already unresponsive with its “right eye partially dilated.”
It said that rescuers found a “prominent open injury on its left wing.”
Based on initial assessment, rescuers discovered that the injured eagle was male, weighed five kilograms, and had a body condition score of one (BCS 1), indicating “slight thinness and dehydration.”
Rescuers also found a bulging crop on the eagle, which turned out to be an undigested half-cooked chick that was fed to the bird.
An antiseptic was applied before the team returned to this city.
PHILIPPINE Eagle Foundation attending veterinarian Dr. Bayani Vandenbroeck examines Philippine Eagle ‘Mangayon’ cradled by a soldier. (PEF)
“During the journey, Mangayon intermittently vomited foul-smelling oral discharges, which were undigested food from his crop. Apart from the occasional discharges, Mangayon remained lethargic during the entire trip,” the PEF said.
A series of physical and medical examinations revealed there was a “severe damage, with shattered bones observed in the left tarsal joints.”
“The attending veterinarian, Dr. Bayani Vandenbroeck, discovered an entry wound in the left tarsal area of the eagle's wing, which exited through the opposite side and extended to the left keel area of Mangayon's wing,” it said.
It added that the raptor was also discharging “foul fluids and solid materials from his mouth, which were identified as an undigested half-cooked chick” during the procedure.
The eagle died at 9:49 p.m. last Monday.
“The necropsy results revealed that Mangayon was a healthy male eagle with all internal organs in good condition. The primary cause of death was severe blood loss from the wounds in the left wing, with a high probability of sepsis stemming from the injuries,” it added.
The PEF said Mangayon was the 20th Philippine Eagle rescued since 2020 and fourth rescue this year.
“Lipadas” was rescued in Mount Apo last January while “Kalatungan” and “Nariha Kabugao” were saved in Bukidnon and Apayao, respectively, last March.